End Of An Era
The last two passenger-carrying Douglas DC-3 aircraft in Britain are to be grounded due to European Union regulations. First flown in 1935, the 70-year old aircraft would require expensive new equipment to meet the new regulations and the owners cannot justify the expense. An era is ending.
'It groaned, it protested, it rattled, it ran hot, it ran cold, it ran rough, it staggered along on hot days and scared you half to death.
'Its wings flexed and twisted in a horrifying manner, it sank back to earth with a great sigh of relief. But it flew and it flew and it flew.'
This is the memorable description by Captain Len Morgan, a former pilot with Braniff Airways, of the unique challenge of flying a Douglas DC-3.
For more than 70 years, the aircraft known through a variety of nicknames - the Doug, the Dizzy, Old Methuselah, the Gooney Bird, the Grand Old Lady - but which to most of us is simply the Dakota has been the workhorse of the skies.
With its distinctive nose-up profile when on the ground and extraordinary capabilities in the air, it transformed passenger travel and served in just about every military conflict from World War II onwards.
Now the Douglas DC-3 - the most successful plane ever made, which first took to the skies just over 30 years after the Wright Brothers' historic first flight - is to carry passengers in Britain for the last time.
Romeo Alpha and Papa Yankee, the last two passenger-carrying Dakotas in the UK, are being forced into retirement because of - yes, you've guessed it - health and safety rules.
Their owner, Coventry-based Air Atlantique, has reluctantly decided it would be too expensive to fit the required emergency escape slides and weather radar systems required by new European rules for their 65-year-old planes, which served with the RAF during the war.
Mike Collett, the company's chairman, says: "We're very saddened."
The end of the passenger-carrying British Dakotas is a sad chapter in the story of the most remarkable aircraft ever built, surpassing all others in length of service, dependability and achievement.
It has been a luxury airliner, transport plane, bomber, fighter and flying hospital and introduced millions of people to the concept of air travel.
It has flown more miles, broken more records, carried more passengers and cargo, accumulated more flying time and performed more "impossible" feats than any other plane in history, even in these days of super-jumbos that can circle the world non-stop.
Indeed, at one point, 90 per cent of the world's air traffic was operated by DC-3s.
It's a rather good article about the old warhorse. The DC-3 is an amazing aircraft - I've posted about them before. There are some good links at the last linked post.
History, World news | Gaius Sunday, 24 February , 2008
By Sam, Sunday, 24 February , 2008 @ 9:36 pm
Personally, I would rather fly in an airliner that is younger than my parents. The DC-3s don’t have to be grounded or retired from flying, but perhaps it is time to find a newer plane for scheduled airlines.
By Larry, Sunday, 24 February , 2008 @ 10:11 pm
I’d rather fly in the DC3, thankyouverymuch.Thirty years from Kitty Hawk to Dakota. That is amazing.
By crosspatch, Sunday, 24 February , 2008 @ 10:38 pm
I flew in one once … it was an American Eagle flight from Burbank to Fresno about 20-25 years ago.
By feeblemind, Sunday, 24 February , 2008 @ 11:15 pm
Great post, Gaius. Thanks.
By Sam Wah, Monday, 25 February , 2008 @ 9:26 am
It was also called the Douglas Racer. It’s the only plane I have a little front seat time and free-fall time in (hit a down-draft). As we said in the USAF 30 years ago: When the last B-52 is flown to the Boneyard, the crew will be returned on a Gooney Bird.
By Mockinbird, Monday, 25 February , 2008 @ 3:33 pm
My Army officer Dad and I flew from Yokohama, Japan to Oakland, California in 1959, in a DC 3.mMy first flight; it was wonderful.
By Bleepless, Monday, 25 February , 2008 @ 8:23 pm
The C-47 was the military version of this splendid craft. Ten thousand were made during WWII. Not one of them ever crashed due to structural failure.
By OldeForce, Monday, 25 February , 2008 @ 10:21 pm
Grew up in West Orange, NJ. It was, and still is, on the flight path of much of the E/W traffic in and out of Newark airport. There’s a ridge line, about 300 feet high, running N/S through town. Back in the ’50s you could always tell,-especially when there was a heavy overcast, when a DC-3 was going by. They’d either come over low and push up the ridge, or drop down as they came in - hitting a chimney was a good sign they might be a little low.
Loved those old birds. Hope these two make it into some good aircraft museums.